I had heard that the scandinavian metalcore band The Way of Purity had cancelled the tour due to visa issues, so I got to the venue around 8:00 pm (an hour after the doors opened). I met with some of my friends there and chatted a bit. They told me that Wolven Ancestry were late, and that the show would not begin on time. The first band actually started two hours and a half later, melting my hopes for on time shows at the Katacombes (the Onslaught show had made me hopeful, because it only started 30 minutes late). When Din Brad started, I was starting to feel pretty drowsy. Their soft, ethereal, atmospheric folk music sure didn't help waking me up. For those who don't know, Din Brad is a side-project of Negură Bunget's keyboardist backed up by their drummer wielding a large drum. Even if I was fighting sleep during their set, I have to say they gave a great performance. Inia Dinia had a beautiful voice and the atmospheres she created were sometimes soothing, sometimes eerie. As my friend said, it sounded transylvanian as hell.

After their short performance, I went to the recently set up merch booth. Negură Bunget had I few CDs, vinyls and shirts for sale, and they guys from Wolven Ancestry had an wide selection of underground/rare metal CDs. The aforementioned ontarian band then took the stage. As for the Onslaught show, the drumset was placed on the balcony, which left more space on the stage, but made communication between the band members harder. Between the songs, there were always long, silent pauses where the musicians would wait for the drummer to start the next one. Nonetheless, the epic Immortal inspired black metal band gave a fun show. They were all dressed in medieval clothes and leather/fur armors. The singer even wore a wolf head with horns. I'm not a fan of their almost cheesy keyboard infused black metal, but their live performance was much more enjoyable than listening to their studio stuff. The songs were brutal and the musicians had a lot of energy.

Then came the band everyone was looking forward to see: the romanians Negură Bunget. To my surprise, the venue was almost full. There were much more people there than for Onslaught a few weeks ago. They started with the epic 12 minutes song "Ţesarul De Lumini" from their masterpiece Om. Their new members did a hell of a job, especially the singer. You couldn't tell he was new in the band. Also, even though he had trouble speaking English, he interacted a lot with the crowd. The band seemed to be shocked by the huge crowd reaction they got. Everyone was screaming and headbanging, having a great time. My highlights were the three songs they played from Om, specially the ambient parts. If this tour comes near you, go see it: Negură Bunget's live performance fully renders the emotion that is present on the studio recordings of their songs and thanks to the diversity of the riffs, you're never going to be bored. Plus, their keyboardist is pretty

After the show, I bought their CD 'n Crugu Bradului to encourage them: they came from fucking Romania to play here. I already can't wait to see them again at MDF.

Wolven Ancestry

The Animistic Awakening
The Fountain of Ageless Growth, Lifeblood of All Who Doth Bear the Spirit of Gaia
March Forth Under Tortured Skies
Memories of Life Forgotten with Time
Silence of the Boreal
A Bloodline of Immortal Passion Bestowed the Harmony of Man and Wolf

I was hoping to get there in time to check out The Way of Purity next Friday in Toronto, and I'm not too interested in Din Brad, I may just show up late to see Wolven Ancestry and Negura Bunget.

I don't know much about VISA's, but what's with all the problems bands have with them? You'd think that a band like Way of Purity would have had all that stuff cleared up months in advance of what would've been their biggest tour ever. A small band like that probably only gets one chance to come stateside, and now they've blown it.